Inheriting a winning program that has enjoyed significant success can sometimes be a daunting task and one that lends itself to additional challenges.
In his six years as the Kennesaw State head men’s golf coach, Bryant Odom has lived up to and heightened the expectations of a program that won back-to-back ASUN Conference championships for the first time and made three consecutive NCAA Regional appearances during his tenure.
Since Odom took over the Kennesaw State program prior to the 2015-16 season, the Owls have:
- Won back-to-back ASUN Conference championships
- Made consecutive NCAA Regional appearances
- Advanced to the 2017 NCAA Championships
- Posted 56 Top 10 and 36 Top 5 finishes
- Captured five tournament titles
- Finished in Golfstat’s Top 50 twice
- Earned a Top 25 national ranking in the GCAA / Bushnell Golfweek Coaches Poll
- Had nine players earn ASUN All-Conference Honors
- Had a player garner ASUN Conference Freshman of the Year honors (Connor Coffee)
- Had eight players selected to the ASUN Conference All-Academic Team
- Had five players selected to the ASUN Conference All-Freshman Team
- Had eight players receive GCAA Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar honors
- Earn the GCAA Academic Team Award three times, including President's Recognition Status for 2017-18
- Had Bryant Odom earn 2016 ASUN Conference Coach of the Year honors
The Owls won the 2021 Pinetree Invitational with Brock Healy capturing medalist honors. KSU recorded five top-10 and two top-five showings during the season.
During the 2021 spring season, KSU finished runner-up at the Any Given Tuesday Intercollegiate and the Raines Company Collegiate. The Owls’
16-under par total score of 272 established a new school record on a par 72 course. KSU closed the season with six top-10 and two top-five finishes.
The Owls picked up three top-10 finishes and one top-five performance during the 2019-20 season that was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2018-19, KSU collected seven top-10 finishes and eight top-five showings. The Owls closed the season ranked No. 84 by Golfstat.
The Owls' solid play continued during the 2017-18 campaign as Kennesaw State posted 10 top-10 and eight top-five showings and advanced to the NCAA Stockton Regional. KSU posted runner-up finishes at the Pinetree Intercollegiate, Steelwood Intercollegiate and Southern Intercollegiate.
Junior Jake Fendt led the Owls, posting a 72.39 scoring average, and team-high nine top-20 and five top-10 showings. Redshirt junior Wyatt Larkin (72.52) and junior Pablo Rodriguez-Tabernerro Torres (72.91) also recorded sub-73 scoring averages. All three individuals earned ASUN All-Conference honors and were Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholars.
Kennesaw State followed up a strong 2015-16 season with an even better 2016-17 campaign as the Owls posted 12 top-10 and 10 top-five showings, including three tournament wins. KSU also finished second three times, including a tie for second at the NCAA College Grove Regional.
Kennesaw posted back-to-back wins at the Pinetree Intercollegiate and Steelwood Intercollegiate Invitational, and capped its spring schedule with a one-shot victory over Lipscomb at the ASUN Conference Championships, after rallying in the closing holes.
A tie for second at the NCAA College Grove Regional earned the Owls a trip to the NCAA Championships where they competed at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois. It marked Kennesaw State’s third appearance at the national championships.
Individually, freshman Connor Coffee and sophomore Jake Fendt won medalist honors at the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational and Southern Intercollegiate, respectively, while senior Chris Guglielmo tied for first at the Old Waverly Collegiate.
Coffee earned ASUN Conference Co-Freshman of the Year accolades, while Fendt, Guglielmo and Teremoana Beaucousin were tabbed All-ASUN Conference second team. Coffee garnered ASUN All-Freshman honors, while Fendt and Beaucousin were named to the ASUN All-Academic team.
In his first season leading the Owls, Odom guided Kennesaw State to the 2016 ASUN Conference championship and a trip to the NCAA Franklin Regional in Franklin, Tenn. KSU recorded 12 top-10 and seven top-five showings during the season.
Guglielmo and Fredrik Nilehn earned first and second team ASUN All-Conference honors, respectively, while Fendt and Pablo Rodriguez-Tabernero Torres were named to the all-freshman team.
A Division I All-American and member of a national championship team at the University of Georgia, Odom was named head coach of the Kennesaw State men’s golf program on Aug. 11, 2015.
Odom, who became the 11th head coach in program history and third since KSU moved to Division I in 2006, spent the previous two years as head coach at Western Carolina.
Odom brought a long list of impressive credentials to Kennesaw State that includes a distinguished collegiate playing career, head coaching experience at the Division I level and a successful amateur and professional playing career.
While leading the Western Carolina program, Odom began the process of turning the Catamounts into a competitive program and mentored two-time All-American J.T. Poston, who tied for second at the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional and advanced to the NCAA Championships as an individual this in 2015. Poston also was named a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).
Western Carolina enjoyed a solid 2015 spring season, posting six top 10 finishes in seven events, with a season-best fourth place showing at the Coca-Cola Wofford Invitational in April.
Prior to taking the head coaching position at Western Carolina, Odom served two years as an assistant coach at Wisconsin from 2011 to 2013, assisting head coach Michael Burcin and helping the Badgers post nine top-10 finishes. Away from course, the men’s golf team recorded the department’s highest grade-point average in 2013 and earned the 2012 Male Team Community Service Award.
Odom, a native of nearby Cartersville, Ga., began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Georgia (2009-2011) where the Bulldogs captured the 2011 Southeastern conference (SEC) championship and finished runner-up at the NCAA Championships. Georgia finished 17th at the 2012 NCAA Championships.
In addition to his coaching responsibilities at Georgia, Odom coordinated and hosted the Georgia High School Golf Coaches Clinic and worked with the Bulldog Golf Camp.
Before entering the coaching ranks, Odom played professionally from 2002 through 2005, and again in 2008 on the NGA Hooters, Tarheel and Nationwide tours. He competed in more than 30 Nationwide events in five countries and over 40 tournaments on the NGA Hooters and Tarheel tours. In 2003, Odom won the NGA Hooters Tour’s Alabama Classic.
Upon his return to professional golf in 2008, Odom claimed medalist honors at the Georgia State Open Championship with a 14-under par 274.
Before turning professional, Odom enjoyed a successful four-year career at Georgia where he was an All-American in 2001 and three-time All-SEC selection while helping the Bulldogs to back-to-back conference titles in 2000 and 2001. Odom captured individual medalist honors at the 2001 SEC Championships, becoming the 13th player in Georgia history to accomplish the feat.
During Odom’s playing career in Athens, the Bulldogs won 13 tournaments, including the 1999 national championship and three (1998, 2000, 2001) SEC titles. He also excelled in the classroom as a four-time SEC Academic Honor Roll honoree before earning a degree in sports studies in 2002. Odom added a master’s degree in sport management and policy from Georgia in 2011.
Additional highlights of Odom’s playing career include victories in the 2001 Southeastern Amateur, the 2006 Georgia PGA East Chapter Championship and the 2007 Georgia PGA Assistants’ Championship. He also advanced to match play at the 1999 U.S. Public Links Championship and 2001 U.S. Amateur.
In 2001 as a member of Team USA, Odom helped the Americans to 37-23 victory in the Fuji Xerox U.S.A. vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Championship that was held at Verde Sano Country Club in SANO Tochigi, Japan.
Odom is married to the former Abbi Francis, who was a two-year letter winner for the Georgia women’s golf team. The couple gave birth to their first child, Charlotte “Charley” Linn, on December 30, 2014.
